Tadhg and Sadhbh say goodbye to 2013!

Tadhg and Sadhbh said farewell to 2013 and rang in 2014 at Baba and Papa's house. They celebrated the Irish New Year first thinking of their Irish family but didn't stay up for the Canadian - it was a bit too late for them.

Tadhg and Sadhbh visit the ROM

Tadhg and Sadhbh visited the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto as part of a Christmas city getaway. They loved staying in a fancy hotel, getting dressed up in the kids museum and making a Lego brick for an installation.

Tadhg and Sadhbh's Christmas 2013!

Santa arrived! Tadhg was first up in the morning to discover presents under the Christmas tree and stockings full of goodies. Tadhg raced around the house ripping open the presents he was allowed to open and barely contained himself when dad said he had to wait for mom and Sadhbh to open all of his presents. Sadhbh eventually came down and Tadhg showed her all of the presents for her. It was an exciting morning! All the family met in Auntie Kay's for Christmas dinner and more present opening. Tadhg was delighted to receive a full set of Disney princess dresses, tiaras and shoes and couldn't wait to try them on. 

Tadhg and Sadhbh's Christmas Eve

Tadhg and Sadhbh prepared for the big day by visiting their Canadian family. After a quick visit with Auntie Ang (and the first presents of Christmas!), they went to their Baba and Papa's house for the big Christmas Eve celebration. The house was hectic with people coming and going so the kids were busy wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. 

Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoyed hanging out with their cousins in preparation for Santa's visit. Pretty soon it was time to leave to get their own house ready for the jolly old elf. With a final Merry Christmas to All they rushed home to put our some magical reindeer dust and leave out milk and cookies for Santa. Everyone was excited to go to bed wondering if Santa would arrive......

Tadhg and Sadhbh experience the ice storm of 2013

Tadhg and Sadhbh woke up on Saturday morning to a shiny, sparkly world. Everything (trees, plants, fences, wires, poles, roads) was covered in ice! Luckily it was a weekend so nobody had to travel far in the dangerous conditions. Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoyed looking at a world encased in crystal ice. The ice storm of 2013 caused major damage in Toronto but St Catharines survived without any major damage.

Tadhg's TaeKwonDo trophy

Tadhg has been learning TaeKwonDo all year at Jeong's family martial arts centre. Tadhg loves it and has advanced to a yellow stripe belt. Tadhg goes twice a week and has had a number of tests to earn his belts. Mom has started learning also and quickly made it to yellow strip belt as well. On Friday night the school held their end of year Christmas party. Tadhg and dad went along and were amazed at the amount of people there. They arrived late so had to sit at the end of the hall but were still able to see the martial arts demonstrations which were amazing. The highlight of the night for Tadhg was when his name was called out to come up on stage for an award. Tadhg was delighted with his award and couldn't stop holding it and smiling.

Tadhg and Sadhbh decorate for Christmas

Tadhg and Sadhbh decided it was time to pull out the Christmas decorations and decorate the Christmas tree and the rest of the house. Tadhg enjoyed pulling out the decorations he remembered from previous years (he had made some of them!). Sadhbh loved looking at the angel on top of the tree and the beautiful Christmas lights.

Sadhbh loved the little boy and girl decorations so much that she wanted to be one. She hopped into the girl's box and stood still while dad carried her around the house. The house looks very festive and ready for Santa Claus to come now.

Tadhg and Sadhbh celebrate mom's birthday!

Friday was mom's birthday and Tadhg and Sadhbh celebrated with a well decorated birthday cake at baba's house. Mom had to wear the birthday crown while blowing out her candles. It was a fund day for all and mom loved having her two angels to celebrate with!

Tadhg and Sadhbh's halloween

This Halloween Tadhg was a vampire while Sadhbh was a wonder woman princess. They spent the day at baba's as had become custom and did some local trick or treating before heading heading back home to trick or treat around their neighbourhood. They both collected enough candy to last until next Halloween!

Tadhg and Sadhbh have a Howling good time!

The nearby Howells pumpkin farm host a fun pumpkin patch every Halloween with lots of fun activities for the spooky season. Sunday was a beautiful day so Tadhg and Sadhbh decided to make their annual visit. Sadhbh enjoyed playing in the hay barn and the bunnyville attraction where cute bunnies hopped around. Tadhg enjoyed the wagon ride and the jumping pillow but was a bit too spooked by the haunted spook barn. Tadhg and dad decided to wait a few more years before trying that again! It was a fun halloween day and Tadhg and Sadhbh picked out their pumpkins for carving.

Tadhg and Sadhbh close out the carousel

The Port Dalhousie Carousel is open all summer from Labour Day to Thanksgiving. Tadhg and Sadhbh love taking rides on the up-and-down horses. The carousel will close for the season soon so Tadhg and Sadhbh took a final trip on Saturday to spin around on their favourite horses.

Tadhg and Sadhbh say farewell to mom's Aunt Rita

Tadhg and Sadhbh traveled to Oshawa on the weekend to attend mom's Aunt Rita's funeral. It was sad to say goodbye but a nice celebration of her life. Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoyed getting dressed up for the funeral on Monday.

Tadhg gets his yellow stripe belt!

Tadhg has been enjoying his TaeKwonDo and this week earned is yellow stripe belt in the Little Tigers class.

Sadbh goes for a cycle with Dad

Sadhbh got to experience what Tadhg and dad used to do in Prague by going for a bike ride with dad in the wee rider seat. Sadhbh enjoyed the wind in her hair on her first ride with dad

Tadhg starts grade 1 in a new school

Tadhg started grade 1 in a new school this week. He started a new French Immersion program in Our Lady of Fatima school in St Catharines. Tadhg joined his new classmates in the first French Immersion class in the school!

Tadhg and Sadhbh visit the Blue Mountain

Tadhg and Sadhbh visited the Blue Mountain village for an end of summer vacation. Blue Mountain is usually a winter destination but there is plenty to do during the summer. Tadhg and Sadhbh had fun wandering around the village square and watching the shows, playing mini-golf, taking the gondola ride up the mountain, hiking the mountain trails, wandering around the lake, riding the mountain coaster and the horse and carriage ride. It was a great end to the summer vacation.

Tadhg and Sadhbh at the playground

Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoy some playtime at their local playground in the August sun.

Sadhbh's summer dress

Sadhbh wanted to wear her princess summer dress today to go outside and feed the birds.She looked like a little princess twirling around for Tadhg and dad. Then it was out to the garden to feed the birds.

Sadhbh turns 2

Sadhbh turned 2 on Saturday. She has already had a few birthday celebrations but this was the big one. She started the day with a small celebration with Tadhg, mom and dad where she (and Tadhg) were delighted to play with Sadhbh's big present (a slide). After lunch her Canadian family and friends called over to celebrate. Sadhbh changed into her pink party dress that Auntie Kay brought for her and looked a very pretty hostess. Mom brought out her princess birthday cake (made by baba) with a big number 2 candle on it. Sadhbh looked a bit shocked at first but enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to herself along with everyone else. She needed some help from Tadhg to blow out the candle.

After cake it was time for presents. Mom and Tadhg helped Sadhbh open all of her presents. Sadhbh has a whole new wardrobe and plenty of toys and books. Tadhg even got some presents for himself. After such a busy day Sadhbh was happy to put on her yellow cat pyjamas and pop into bed. Mom and dad were amazed as always at how fast their babies are growing up.

Sadhbh the bus driver

While waiting for mommy and Tadhg at O'Connell bridge, Sadhbh was invited to sit in the driver's seat of a Dublin bus! Sadhbh enjoyed being in the big seat and wearing the conductor's hat, but wasn't too sure about all those controls.

Tadhg and Sadhbh visit their Irish family (and celebrate Sadhbh's 2nd birthday)

On Friday Tadhg and Sadhbh finally got to meet their Irish family. After an adventurous journey to find Uncle Eddie and Auntie Maria's new house, everyone was happy to meet Auntie Maria, Kyle and Grace. It was great to be able to spend time in the new house which is huge and has lots of garden to play in. Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoyed getting re-acquainted with their cousins (and playing with all of their toys). Grandma came down with a birthday cake and some presents for Sadhbh. Both Sadhbh and Tadhg were delighted to see their Grandma again.

When Granddad and Uncle Eddie arrived home it was time for the first celebration of Sadhbh's 2nd birthday. The kids loved the caterpillar cake that Grandma brought. Sadhbh enjoyed having everyone sing Happy Birthday to her and blowing out the candle. It was such fun that it had to be repeated a number of times. Sadhbh loved the twin baby dolls she received as a birthday present and helped Grandma put them to sleep. Sadhbh and Tadhg spent the night in their cousin's house and had fun saying good night to their Irish family for a change.

Saturday was another beautiful Irish day (sunny and cool) so the kids were able to spend a lot of time playing in the garden. After lunch, it was time to go back to Dublin so Sadhbh could nap in the car and to make it in time for their next visit. It was great to spend so much time with their Irish family on this trip.

Tadhg loses his first baby tooth!

One of Tadhg's bottom teeth had been loose for a while and dad expected it to fall out before the trip to Ireland....but it managed to hang on. However, a full day of bouncing on the trampoline with Jamie and Millie  was enough to shake it loose! Tadhg did not realise it had fallen out until dad checked in the evening. The tooth was nowhere to be found. The tooth fairy must have found it in the garden as Tadhg woke up to a shiny 2 euro coin On Wednesday morning. Tadhg feels a little bit older....and can't wait for his next tooth to come out!

Tadhg and Sadhbh fly to Ireland

On Monday Tadhg and Sadhbh (with mom and dad) made their annual trip to Ireland.It was their last trip before Sadhbh turns 2 so the last time she could fly without buying a ticket. Tadhg and Sadhbh were excited about their impending visit (and about not having to go to school for over a week!). It was an overnight trip so Tadhg and Sadhbh changed into their batman pyjamas at the airport before having a supper of pizza and salad (while watching Batman).

After the initial excitement of being on an airplane both kids settled down and eventually nodded off. Tadhg slept for most of the trip on dad while Sadhbh had a restless flight crawling all over mom. Tadhg woke up just before landing and didn't feel so good during the descent. He made use of the air sickness bag just as the plane touched down in Dublin. After that he felt great and ready for the first day of his visit! Sadhbh, mom and dad were tired and were happy to arrive at Auntie Sheena and Lou's house and beds. Tadhg didn't want to sleep and spent the day playing with Jamie and Millie. Mom and dad were glad of the company for Tadhg so they could sleep and prepare for their visit home.

Tadhg's friends birthday party

Tadhg went to one of his school friend's birthday parties at a karate school on Friday.

Tadhg and Sadhbh celebrate valentine's day with their cousins

Tadhg and Sadhbh visited baba and papa's house on Valentine's day. They were delighted to find their cousins there and had a fun tie as always. Baba even managed to get all of the grandkids together for a photo op.